Windows 8 and the Future of Microsoft

Hot on the heels of Windows 7 Microsoft has been relatively mum about it’s new operating system until last June. While release dates are obviously too far away to predict, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did slip the software could be coming as soon as next year, though Microsoft swiftly said that he had misspoke. Reported to have system requirements lower or near Windows 7, 8 looks to be a massive direction change for the company. Obviously very heavily influenced by its Windows Phone 7 operating system, 8 will feature a ‘live tiles’ setup with different applications available to slide between. This brings us to the main focus of Windows 8, multi-touch tablets. While not an iPad-esque touch pad a touchpad with Windows 8 would be one that features multitasking, an file system that can actually be accessed, networking abilities and so forth; essentially a standard computer in touchpad form. If you’ve noticed Microsoft appears to be copying a lot of features already implemented by Apple, the most obvious is the inclusion of a Microsoft App Store. Though with Apple’s ridiculous success with theirs, combined with Microsoft’s personal computing dominance this seems an obvious next step for the company. Other massive upgrades expected is the obvious move to more cloud based services, such as their new Office version 365, developer platforms based around HTML5 and Java, as well as more concentrated support for USB 3.0. Expect more information about 8 to come out at next month’s BUILD conference.